In the completion and production industry for natural resources, the formation of boreholes for the purpose of production or injection of fluid is common. The boreholes are used for exploration or extraction of natural resources such as hydrocarbons, oil, gas, water, and alternatively for CO2 sequestration.
Production of methane hydrates has garnered interest as of late due to the large estimates of gas hydrate resources and the growing need to satisfy alternative energy demands. Methane hydrate includes water molecules formed in a cage like structure around methane molecules in low temperature and high pressure environments, such as permafrost zones in polar regions and layers within several hundred meters of the seafloor of an ocean. One means of producing methane hydrate involves reducing pressure in the wellbore such that the hydrates can disassociate in methane and water in order to extract the methane gas. That is, methane hydrate dissociates into methane gas and water when depressurized. Reducing the pressure in the wellbore can be accomplished using gas lift, rod pump, and electrical submersible pumping (“ESP”). These known mechanisms for lowering bottom hole pressure decrease the pressure to the entire interval of the wellbore.
The art would be receptive to improved alternative devices and methods for methane hydrate production.